


Call Me, Maybe?

by Negayuun (mathonwys)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Twitch Plays Pokemon (Let's Play)
Genre: 1d12h, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Phone Calls, adorable child otp, friendshipping, mental illness implications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 02:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4002619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mathonwys/pseuds/Negayuun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, why don’t you come back and battle me sometime? I’m on the same Route as always. We can see how much our Pokemon’ve really grown!”</p><p>AJ calls Joey almost 2 days after his adventure starts. Sometimes listening to your best friend talk can be therapeutic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call Me, Maybe?

“..and then my Rattata took it out with extreme precision! Hey, how’s your Sentret been doing? Ad– uh, Adeeh– Addy?”

AJ didn’t respond, but Joey was used to that. All he could hear from the other side of the line was muffled thuds and the occasional sound of a bag being rifled through. Where was he now, even? Joey didn’t have the slightest idea, and wasn’t sure he’d even get a response if he asked.

He kept talking, though. “Your Totodile must be a powerhouse by now! I can’t believe you haven’t evolved him yet; he’d totally be a Feraligatr by now. Then again, he’s kind of cute as-is, isn’t he? Cute and tough. I bet my Rattata is tougher, though!”

Still no response. Joey wasn’t sure if AJ was even listening to him, to be honest. AJ was like that. He was always running around (and often into things), always fidgeting with his bag or his Pokedex or sometimes his Pokegear, and Joey didn’t think he’d ever seen the guy sleep.

“Hey, why don’t you come back and battle me sometime? I’m on the same Route as always. We can see how much our Pokemon’ve really grown!”

This call was a little different, though. AJ had been the one to make the first contact, not Joey, and his expectations had shot up like a rocket. They’d lowered a little once it became clear AJ was silent as always, but he did what he always did: talk. Maybe it helped; whenever he and AJ had talked in person before, the other kid had calmed down enough to at least look at him (although, whenever Joey talked for too long, he’d start fidgeting again and sometimes even running in place like he was frustrated). Even if it _wasn’t_ helping, at least it meant AJ was still together enough to answer whenever he called.

“Or maybe you could show me how much of your Pokedex you’ve filled in? You must be all the way in Goldenrod by now, so I bet you’ve seen a lot! How many badges do you have?”

Joey wasn’t really sure what was really wrong with his friend. He’d written it off as AJ just being a little weird, but as he talked to him more and more it got obvious fast that it was more than that. AJ always had a far-away look in his eyes, always was fidgeting around, sometimes even had trouble with simple things like doors. And, the part Joey considered the creepiest, whenever AJ calmed down enough to talk he would mention “voices”.  
A couple years ago, his mom had been watching some documentary about a kid in Kanto who had some kind of strange condition; he couldn’t really remember the details, but sometimes, when he looked at AJ…  
Joey’s stream of nonsensical babble faltered. The TV program had said there was no known explanation for the condition, and the kid who suffered from it had just disappeared one day for his own reasons. What if AJ had it? Was it curable? Was he going to be okay? Or was he just going to up and disappear one day too?

A loud thud made him jump, and he stared in surprise at his Pokegear. “AJ? AJ, are you there?”

Still no response. Joey bit his thumb in worry; had he hurt himself? After what felt like way too long, however, a strained voice answered from the other side of the line. Joey couldn’t make out what was being said, even after he held the Pokegear up to his ear. He muttered it in confusion. “Riot…?”

“Joey?”

“Oh!” Joey pulled it away from his ear in surprise. “AJ, is that you?”

“Yeah.” Joey had only heard AJ speak a few times, and each time was… well, scary. AJ spoke like he was hoarse and exhausted, and was so quiet Joey had to press his Pokegear’s speaker back up to his ear to make him out. “I-it stopped, for a bit. The voices.”

“Oh. Cool.” He didn’t know what else to say. “Hey, AJ, I was wonde–”

“Joey?”

Joey shut up instantly. Even as quiet as AJ’s voice was, it was still a shock to actually hear a response from him.

“I don’t know when they’re coming back,” AJ breathed in a tone that suggested he was close to mental collapse. If Joey had been in Goldenrod at the moment, he would’ve seen the poor kid laying flat on his back staring emptily up at the sky. Each word he spoke was drawn out and hesitant, like it took great effort for him to talk. “Can you.. tell me about your Rattata more?”

Joey was confused, but couldn’t bring himself to object. “Sure. You know, I’m pretty sure he’s in the top percentage of Rattata…”

On the other side of the line, AJ closed his eyes and smiled. Faint echoes of the voices still spoke in the back of his mind (“riot, riot”), but Joey’s own talking drowned them out. Finally, he could rest… for a little while, at least.


End file.
